In the short term, many employers have complained of an inability to fill roles and retain workers, further accelerating robotic adoption.
One aspect of the conversation that is oft neglected, however, is how human workers feel about their robotic colleagues.
But could the technology also have a negative impact on worker morale?
The institute reports a negative impact to worker-perceived meaningfulness and autonomy levels.
As long as robots have a positive impact on a corporation’s bottom line, adoption will continue at a rapidly increasing clip.
As Walmart works to remain competitive, it’s taking a more piecemeal approach to automation, through partnerships with a range of different robotics firms.
On Thursday, the mega-retailer announced a partnership with Fox Robotics, which brings 19 of the Austin-based startup’s robotic forklifts to its distribution centers.
Today’s news follows a 16-month pilot, which found Walmart trialing the technology in Distribution Center 6020.
DC 6020 is the place where Walmart began trials with Symbotic’s package sortation and retrieval technologies.
Following that successful trial, Walmart announced plans to roll out the technology to all 42 of its Regional Distribution Centers — that was nearly double the original target of 25.
Los Angeles-based Gitai said Tuesday that its autonomous robotic arm has nailed a tech demonstration outside the International Space Station.
Autonomous robotic systems still have a ways to go before they render human labor obsolete, especially here on Earth; but in space, human labor is expensive (and dangerous), which provides an opening for a robotic alternative.
The 1.5-meter autonomous robotic arm, which the startup calls S2, launched to the ISS aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 in January.
In the nearer term, the company is targeting on-orbit satellite servicing for spacecraft in low Earth orbit and geostationary orbit.
The arm’s technology readiness level (TLR), a standard used by NASA to chart the maturity of technology, is now at 7, the highest level, Gitai said.
Naturally, Nvidia wants a piece.
Keeping things in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Jetson Thor, a new computer designed specifically for running simulation workflows, generative AI models and more for the humanoid form factor.
Nvidia notes of the new silicon:The SoC includes a next-generation GPU based on NVIDIA Blackwell architecture with a transformer engine delivering 800 teraflops of 8-bit floating point AI performance to run multimodal generative AI models like GR00T.
Naturally, Nvidia wants a piece of the action.
The next several years will present a fascinating race for market share between humanoids and mobile manipulators, and Nvidia wants a piece of all of that action.
The loneliness of the robotic humanoid Humanoid robots are all the rage, but Agility’s Digit was a singular presence at this year’s Modex conferencePerhaps a few years from now, the halls of the Georgia World Congress Center will be peppered with humanoid robots the week of Modex.
A line of the bipedal robots were moving totes to a nearby conveyor belt at select times throughout the week.
This week in Atlanta, a rotating cast of eight Digits are working each day from show opening to close.
Agility is ramping up production volumes, with plans to hit “high double-digit” production of its bipedal robot by end of year.
This week at Modex, the company took the wraps off Agility Arc, deployment and fleet management software for Digit.
Fortunately, NASA (as as always) is thinking ahead, and has just shown off a self-assembling robotic structure that might just be a crucial part of moving off-planet.
“We think this type of construction technology can serve a lot of very general applications,” said lead author Christine Gregg.
“In the near term, the robust autonomy and lightweight structures of our approach strongly benefit applications in austere environments, like the lunar surface or space.
“For us, the structures and all of the robotic systems are resources that can be optimized over space and time.
Versions of the robot have already flown in space and done work in microgravity, so no worries on that score.
If you follow the world of robotic exoskeletons with any frequency, you’re no doubt aware of the two primary categories.
The latter category is often the domain of soft robotic exoskeletons – those with fabric parts designed to be more of a day-to-day assistive accessory.
In the case of people with Parkinson’s disease, “freezing” is a frequent issue that impacts the ability to walk, while increasing the likelihood of falls.
New research from a joint team from Harvard and Boston University, published in Nature Medicine, demonstrates how soft robotic exoskeletons can address the issue.
Without any special training, the patient was able to walk without any freezing indoors and with only occasional episodes outdoors.
Here in the States, the $2 trillion industry employs around eight million people — that’s nearly one New York City.
Even in financial boom times, however, these jobs can be difficult to keep filled, owing to physical demands and other potential dangers.
As evidenced from videos released by PaintJet, those sorts of older technologies remain intact here — albeit with an automated twist.
CEO Nick Hegeman tells TechCrunch, that in spit of looking like a fairly standard piece of heavy machine, “We have created 100% of the robotic system.
Of course, PaintJet is far from the only company vying to introduce robots to the world of industrial painting.
However, there are a few reasons why a company might want to rethink their gripper. If the gripper is used inconsistently or simply isn’t effective enough, then it might be…
Robotic investment had been growing exponentially for over a decade by the time 2021 came around. In general, people were optimistic about its future and saw it as a means…
